Fast recognition of classical groups over large fields (Q2759622)

A central issue in computing with matrix groups over finite fields is the explicit recognition of groups isomorphic to classical groups. Algorithms that deal more generally with black-box groups are available, but these have complexity that is polynomial in the size of the field (and the rank of the group). As classical groups have faithful representations over the natural field (such as the natural representation) that are of degree which is independent of the field size, more efficient algorithms are needed to deal with these cases. For special linear and symplectic groups the problem can be reduced to finding an efficient explicit recognition algorithm for \(\text{SL}(2,q)\) and \(\text{Sp}(4,q)\) in their natural representations. In this paper the authors describe such an algorithm for \(\text{SL}(2,q)\) in time that is polynomial in \(\log q\) given a discrete logarithm oracle, and exhibit its efficiency when implemented in MAGMA. Also they give a crucial ingredient of a similar algorithm for \(\text{Sp}(4,q)\), namely the production of transvections necessary for generating subgroups isomorphic to \(\text{SL}(2,q)\).NEWLINENEWLINEFor the entire collection see [Zbl 0959.00030].